St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-31
NOT APERS0N SAVED.
No One Left to Tell the Story
Of the Terrible Vernon
Disaster.
The Crew Of twenty-five ana
All the Passengers Are
Drowned
Capt. Moran, OF the Steamship
Superior, Tells the Story
Of the Wreck.
His Ship So Badly Disabled as
to be Unable to Render
Assistance.

MILWAUKEE. w IS. Oct. OIL ho pas
senger propeller Vernon was wrecked
in the terrible gale that swept Lake
Michigan yesterday and her entire crew
of twenty-five persons and the paSseh-
gers, number unknown, are supposed 10 7
have been lost. 1t involves greater
loss of life than amy of the previous DIS
aSterS on the lake this season. not eX-
cepting the propeller Champlaln, when
burned early in the spring of charlie
voix. drowning tWenty-fOur persons. A
most singular coincidence is that the
Vernon was the vessel which took the
place of the Champlain i'll the Northern
Michigan line. and had only been on
the line since Aug. /. She was one
of the finest furnished passenger
boats on the lake, and had valuation
of $4,000 Capt. Moran, OF the steam
shin Superior. which arrived here at
$50 o'clock last night, brought the first
news of the wreck. ITO pass one man
on raft appealing for our help, another
dying from exposure, and Il small boat
in which we could see one woman and
three men. one of the latter hailing with
coat stuck upon his oar. all being
tossed about i'll terrible sea, without
our being able to render them any
assistance, WAS heartrending i'll the eX-
treme," said Capt. Moran. I'VE were
also
FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES.
our steamer having become disabled in
the sea. With the exception of the
cooks our entire crew of sixteen men.
even TO the engineer. were down below,
some OF them steering the vessel with
temporary tackle which we had rugged
up. while the others were trying to re-
pair the break. Our tiller had become
disconnected from the rudder post,
leaving us at the mercy of the seas,
until we managed 10 rig up temporary
tackle With this we managed to keep
cur vessel out Of the trough of the seas
and keep her before the gale. 1t was
three hours before we had made repairs
so that we could handle ourselves, and
then we were out of sight of the ship
wrecked men. The cooks Oh deck were
the first to call our attention to the
wreckage. 1t was about 10 O'Clock this
morning. when off Two Rivers. some
miles out in Lake Michigan, that we
passed through some lumber. Five
miles further on we passed a lot of bar
relS, and then encountered. wreckage
for some distance. Among it was fur
niture and bed clothing, besides life pre-
servers here and there. One cook said
he counted thirteen life preservers, and
! know that it must have been pas
senger boat to carry so mt ny. We passed
so near some of
TIE LIFE PRESERNERS
that they might have been picked up
had the cooks used pike pole. | was
only on deck part of the time and no
others of the crew came up, as they had
ali they could do where they were.
When about SIX miles eaSt-nOrtheaSt of
Manitowoc. the cook, who had been
keeping a lookout, called me Oh deck
with the information that raft could
be seen with a man OH it. AS | went OH
deck | could plainly see the man waving
his hand to us. He was standing on the
raft. which was about half a mile be-
tween us and the shore, and the sea was
washing over it. 1t appeared about
the top of the cabin. Poor fellow.
he must have thought it cruel
Of Us to pass by and leave him there to
suffer. Ten minutes later we sighted
another raft. also about half a mile in
side of us. 1t was much smaller, ap-
parently not more than four by eight
feet. and looked Ikea piece of the bull
warks. On it was lying man who, al
though still alive, probably did not dis
cern us. as he was too far gone. We
could see him dip his head, as his frail
little float was tossed about in the sea.
as though he was about dead. We saw
a vaWl with three men and one woman
iii ii little farther south. There may.
however. have been more of them lying
down in the boat, the three we saw
being on the seats. One of the men was
standing up holding his oar with
HIS COAT SWINGING
to attract attention. Their hearts must
have been gladdened in their eXpecta-
ton of help from us. How inhuman
they must have thought us when we
passed them by, and within a mile, too,
without even turning our vessel towards
them. But without steering gear. dis
abIed as ii was, we could not Stear our
vessel and there was nothing for us to
do but hope that some Of the vessels
coming up the lake aStern of us might
discover them and pick them up. There
is possibility that large three-and-aft
schooner coming up the lake after us
NAV have picked up the persons in the
astern Of us and | could see through the
glass that she was heading TO-
wards them. But she may have
been bound for Manitowoc and
could have passed without seeing them.
There was little possibility that she
could have taken the men off the RATS.
and it is even doubtful if she could pick
up the yawl in such sea. If she could
get close enough to throw a line as she
scudded by and they held onto it there
might be chance for them TO be saved
1t was as heavy sea as i have expert
enced in all my life on the lakes. Just
to give yol, an idea of it, the Sandusky,
which we had in tow, sometimes buried
herself so that only half of her masts
could be seen. Once she stayed under
so long that / thought she was gone.
We will make repairs here and 20 OH to
Chicago"
DUE TO ovEELoADING.
CHICAGO, Oct. Self the Vernon
foundered III the gale and no one is left
to tell the story of the disaster, there
will be many who will attribute her loss
80 overlooking. Without cargo She WAS
q deeper draft vessel Than az. on The
lakes, and it was impossible To load her
with profit to her. owners wiii.nu. max
ing her unseawortliy. III order la OIL
tain great speed her builder sacrilicrtl
buoyaHcy and stability. and every ey-
perienced vessel-man who saw il,r Yer
No.. cI, lo., .t,-~s